Peter Sykes

Set against industrial action that beset the NHS in the 1970's, the normal healthy camaraderie of the City Hospital is lost as the dispute sets nurse against nurse and doctor against doctor. Operations are cancelled, waiting lists spiral out of control and patient's lives are put at risk.

In this collection of medical tales, the training of one slightly naive young trainee is viewed through the experiences of the patients he treats as he embarks on this most challenging of careers.

A collection of short medical stories about medical misadventures in the daily life of medical professionals.

Paul Lambert, a quiet and introspective young doctor tells the real-life tales of some of his patients, at a time when care and compassion ruled supreme in British hospitals. Some stories are humorous, some sad, others poignant, but all are very 'human'.

Whilst Paul and Kate work alongside each other as doctor and nurse on the surgical ward, strains in their relationship emerge. And when Kate's baby dies and Paul's inexperience costs lives, doubt and despair hang in the air and their marriage appears to be doomed.

The listener is taken behind the scenes as fascinating patient stories are used to illustrate what the job entails and the pressures and emotions that result in this honest and personal account of the life of a surgeon and the effect that it has on his wife and family.